HeroComplex has an exclusive interview with Anne Hathaway on her role as Selina Kyle in Chris Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises. You can read the whole article over there, but we’ll summarize some of the main points despite doing none of the hard work ourselves. Hooray, blogging.
One of Bob Kane and Bill Finger’s inspirations for the Catwoman character was Hedy Lamarr, the sultry and clever actress who also co-invented a method for spread spectrum radio and frequency hopping. (You can thank her, in part, for your Wi-Fi and cell phone.) Anne Hathaway took their inspiration into account and studied Lamarr’s screen presence:
“I know this sounds odd, but her breathing is extraordinary,” Hathaway said. “She takes these long, deep, languid breaths and exhales slowly. There’s a shot of her in [the 1933 film] ‘Ecstasy’ exhaling a cigarette and I took probably five breaths during her one exhale. So I started working on my breathing a lot.”
That wasn’t acting; everyone back then smoked delicious, physician-recommended cigarettes so often their lungs didn’t work.
“I really got into the comics after I was cast and I like that when she made her first appearance she meets Bruce Wayne and says ‘Let go of me or I’ll claw your eyes out,’ and he says, ‘Careful, claws in or papa spank,'”
Meow.
This next quote, a scene description from part of the movie HeroComplex viewed, is possibly a spoiler:
Gotham City is a war zone. A ruthless madman named Bane has ripped away any sense of security and the citizens, haggard and clutching suitcases with refugee anxiety, sit behind barbed wire waiting to see what will blow up next. A hooded prisoner is dragged in – it’s Bruce Wayne, one of Gotham’s most famous faces – but the eyes of the crowd go instead to the woman in black standing at the top of the staircase.
“Sorry to spoil things, boys, but Bane needs these guys himself,” says sultry Selina Kyle, played here by actress Anne Hathaway, navigating the steps with stiletto heels that, on closer inspection, turn out to have serrated edges capable of leaving nasty claw marks in a fight. She also wears high-tech goggles that, when not in use, flip up and resemble feline ears. [HeroComplex]
Good to hear that, if they must make her fight in high heels while wearing cat ears, these accessories at least serve a utilitarian purpose (other than to be totally sexy). Speaking of utilitarian, here are some relevant photos taken on the set awhile back, so you can see the heels and ears for yourself. Assuming you can look away from Anne Hathaway long enough to notice her headband and shoes. Good luck with that.